Duke Law moot court team shines in final round of ELSA Moot Court Competition

May 26, 2009Duke Law News

May 26, 2009 — The Duke Law team placed second in the final round of the ELSA Moot Court Competition on World Trade Organization (WTO) Law. Second-year classmates Gregory Dixon, Michael Gilles, Timothy Reibold, and Jonathan Skinner competed against the team from the University of Melbourne in the championship on May 23 in Taipei, Taiwan.

Duke’s team won the award for having the best complainant written submission and Reibold was named best orator of the final round. Gilles and Dixon were named fourth best orator and second best orator, respectively, in the preliminary rounds.

The Duke team also received the “Spirit of ELSA Award,” following a vote of members of all 19 teams participating in the international final rounds. The award recognizes the team as being “the most friendly, kind, and sportsmanlike” team in the competition explained coach Carla Reyes ’09. “It’s quite a wonderful testimony to the overall attitude and approach of the team,” she noted. “These four men represented Duke extremely well. I couldn’t be happier with their performance in Taipei.”

The ELSA Moot Court Competition, sponsored by the European Law Students Association, is a simulated hearing in the WTO dispute- settlement system. Competitor teams represent both the complainant and respondent parties to the case by presenting oral submissions in front of a panel.

Coached by Reyes ’09 and Amber Jordan ’10, the Duke Law team won the North American Regional Round in March, receiving awards for best overall written submissions, best complainant submission, and best respondent submission.

This is the fourth consecutive year that a Duke Law team has advanced to the international round of the competition.